“He gave it his all,” said Parker’s mom, Jessica Boyer. “[He] stood there waving his sign for over two hours, offering — and perhaps scaring — passing walkers and motorists free lemonade.”

But, despite the seven-year-old’s best advertising efforts, he didn’t get a lot of takers.

“I made a few calls. Posted a few Facebook posts, and let me just say that the outpouring of community support was incredible,” said Boyer. “At one point I had to clear my throat to stop the tears of joy.”

“Recently Clayton has been in the news for some weird and scary things. Bullets, drugs, guns, crime scene tape and more sirens than you’d hope to hear in this neighbourhood. But [yesterday] there wasn’t anything like that,” she said. “We thought we would spread some cheer and wow. Just wow!”

One of the phone calls that Boyer made was to Cloverdale’s RCMP detachment, and the Cloverdale fire hall. Boyer and Parker wanted to offer them “something happy when often their days are only filled with people in distress,” she said.

Cloverdale’s emergency responders heard the call — and showed up in style. A fire engine, as well as several police vehicles, swung by Parker’s stand to have a refreshing glass of lemonade on Thursday (July 18).

“It was incredible to see the outpouring of support from everyone,” said Boyer. “It was wonderful.”